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NATO Hopeful as Skopje Debates Peace Plan
SKOPJE, Sept 3 (News Agencies) - Macedonian lawmakers got down to thrashing out their differences on a Western-backed peace accord Monday, as NATO expressed hope that it can soon restart collecting National Liberation Army (NLA) arms after a vote expected Tuesday.
The debate resumed after a two-day suspension which alarmed Western diplomats fearing it could derail the peace plan, aimed at ending a seven-month uprising by Albanian activists.
At Monday's parliament session, nationalist deputies in the Skopje parliament warned that the peace plan, which strengthens Muslim Albanian rights, could destroy the fragile Balkan country.
But NATO officials and visiting Western politicians expressed confidence that the plan, agreed on August 13th by the four main parties in parliament, will be approved in a vote expected on Tuesday.
"I'm delighted that the debate resumed this morning and received the president's confidence that we should get a yes vote with the required majority," said visiting British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon.
"We welcome the reopening of the debate in parliament," said NATO spokesman Mark Laity, noting that the second phase of weapons collection was scheduled once a vote was taken.
"Our expectation is that when this current vote is taken, then we assume the operation will continue... We look forward to resuming that operation in the near future," he told reporters.
The 120-seat parliament last Friday began debating the Western-backed peace plan, which strengthens rights for Muslim Albanians in return for the NLA disarming.
But in a surprise move, nationalist parliament speaker Stojan Andov suspended the session on Saturday, demanding guarantees for the return of displaced people before he would allow it to resume.
Andov agreed late Sunday to let the debate restart, after pressure from Western diplomats and an intervention by moderate President Boris Trajkovski.
The assembly could vote Tuesday on whether it will start modifying the constitution. A two-thirds majority is needed before the more than 30 amendments entailed in the agreement can be ratified.
Three of the four main parties back the accord. But the main question mark remains over the biggest party, nationalist Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski's VMRO-DPMNE.
Forty-three of the party's members are among the 116 parliamentarians taking part in the debate. Seventy-eight votes are needed for this first political phase to move ahead.
One of its lawmakers, Aleksandar Pandov, lashed out Monday at the peace plans: "I do not trust any more in Albanians... The daily events have persuaded me that it is very damaging and might mean the end of Macedonia."
Albanian DPA party leader Zamir Dika meanwhile insisted that the accord was "a new chance for peace" in a country that has been spiraling towards all-out war since February.
The danger of continuing instability in Macedonia was highlighted Monday when police reported clashes near the flashpoint town of Tetovo, as well as a blast in a northern Skopje suburb, the ninth this week.
Alliance troops, now numbering 4,400 in Macedonia, last week collected some 1,200 weapons from NLA members who control a large swathe of northwest Macedonia.
The British defense minister remained upbeat Monday about hopes for success of the 30-day NATO mission, which ends on September 26th.
"We anticipate that as a result of a successful operation here, both militarily and as part of the political process being conducted through the parliament here in Macedonia, that the situation on the ground will be very different at the end of the period," he said.
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